


Covet

by DatNookieThang



Category: Empire (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-07-24 06:51:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7498374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DatNookieThang/pseuds/DatNookieThang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andre is determined to bring the cycle of destruction in the Lyon family to an end. But it won't be easy as long as he's struggling with one of God's commandments: thou shalt not covet thy father's wife.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tarnished Rings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Is that's why you're here? To kill me and my baby?" How ride-or-die is Andre, exactly - and why doesn't Anika really care all that much?

_References:_  
 _"Andre smirked, still remembering..."_ First chapter of Sacrifice, which is posted here _._

_\---_

Even before Lucious and Anika stood before Andre to be joined as man and wife, Empire's executives were already spinning the story so that it looked like Hakeem, not Laura, had called their wedding off. By the time Anika and Lucious were heading out of the wedding hall – separately – Hakeem was texting his friends to meet him in the lobby to celebrate his newfound freedom. He was hellbent on ruining Laura's reputation the way she had broken his heart. The drunker he got, the bigger the lies he told.

Within the hour, Laura's brothers had shown up to Hakeem's bachelor party to clear their sister's good name. Things were not going to end well, but it made for a great distraction from the real story – that Anika Calhoun, ex-lover of Hakeem and ex-fiancée of Lucious, was now Mrs. Lucious Lyon. That was a story that needed to remain private as long as possible.

Ignoring Hakeem's drunken revelry – which even Jamal was becoming a part of – Andre made his way back to the bridal suite, not knowing what he was going to say to his new stepmother. Anika had been attacked by her best friend, who accused her of killing Rhonda's child. Now Anika was the husband of the man she'd once plotted to destroy with his ex-wife, who went on to turn her back on Anika after using her to build Lyon Dynasty. If Anika was sitting on the edge of a balcony again, Andre wouldn't blame her.

"Anika?" Andre gently knocked on the door. "It's Andre. Can I come in?"

Anika wasn't sitting on the edge of the balcony, but curled up on the suite's spacious window bench, her head lying in his grandmother Leah's Walker lap. "I'm sorry," he said when they both looked up. "I'll come back later, Grandma." The strength from the older woman's wise words and gentle touches were worth far more than any feeble Bible verses Andre had to spout.

"No," Leah said firmly as Anika awkwardly sat back up. "You stay." Leah took Anika's tear-stained face into her hands. "You remember what I said, now," Leah ordered, and Anika nodded mutely. The two embraced, and Leah gave Anika a kiss on her cheek. Anika's own parents refused to come witness this farce of a marriage, but here was Lucious's hated mother treating her new daughter-in-law with tenderness.

On the way out, Leah squeezed Andre's hand. "Be gentle with her," she said, and the words carried more meaning than she knew. "And make sure she eats that food on the table over there."

"Yes, ma'am," Andre handed Anika the small plate of fruit, cold cuts and cheese that had gone untouched while Leah was there. "Better eat," Andre suggested. "Grandma looks like she can swing a mean switch." Anika nibbled on her food as Andre joined her on the window bench. "Here. Turn and face me."

Anika turned sideways, resting her back against the wall while Andre took one of her bare feet into his lap. "My mom was really tiny when she was pregnant with me. 16 years old, body still growing. Cookie said Lucious would rub her feet every night because she had put so much weight on her body that it made it hard for her to walk. And every time Cookie was pregnant, Lucious would rub her feet." Andre smiled at Anika. "I consider myself a better man than my father, Anika."

"That doesn't take very much." Anika leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, grateful for the relief Andre was giving her body. Her neck and back were also killing her, but nothing hurt worse than her feet.

"So. You plan on telling me how and when you and Lucious engaged in D.C.? Did you and Lucious get back together or something?" The last engagement Andre remembered happened over a year ago, back when Cookie  _literally_  showed her ass to her family. 

"Yeah. About three weeks ago. I don't know what I was thinking." Anika looked down at the ring on her left hand - a beautiful diamond cluster that Leah had given Lucious to slip on her finger.  _"A hand-me-down ring for a hand-me-down Lyon,"_  Lucious had noted, and Leah slapped Lucious so hard that he staggered backwards. "A couple of weeks after Lucious threatened to have me killed, he came to me on some 'let's-try-to-make-this-work' thing. I knew in my heart that it was a huge mistake, but all I could think was that maybe if I could get Lucious to at least like me again, that maybe me and my baby had a chance. Maybe even back to the way things used to be."

 _Back when Anika had a home and a job and a future with Lucious,_  Andre thought.  _Before Cookie showed up._  Everything for Anika had been golden until his mother showed up and ruined Anika's life in an instant. "So we went and got the license and planned on getting married the next day," Anika continued. "But later that night, Lucious got drunk and started sounding like the old Lucious again. So once he passed out, I hightailed it back to New York and figured I'd take my chances on my own."

That Anika had slept with Lucious went unsaid. "Wow." Andre let it all sink in. "So you two are really married."

"Yeah," Anika said miserably. "We are. Where is my beloved husband, anyway?"

Andre chuckled dryly. "Out making horrible life decisions."

"Worse than mine?"

"Possibly." 

While Anika was pleading with her parents to come watch her make the biggest mistake of her life, Lucious had tracked Cookie down to the Sheraton Hotel, where a weekend conference was being held for some of the world's most brilliant and established individuals in the field of international security. The wedding ceremony hadn't even started before photos of Cookie walking through the Sheraton with a number of agents surrounding her. As the totality of Cookie's actions became clear, the expression on Lucious's face registered from shock to hurt to pure, unmitigated hatred. Still, Lucious remained calm, turning to his team of bodyguards.

"Go get that bitch," was all he said.

While Leah was trying to convince the new Mrs. Lyon not to starve herself to death, one of the four of bodyguards Lucious dispatched to the Sheraton had the unfortunate duty of telling Lucious that one of his men was in the emergency room, while the other two took off and would never been seen again. Tommy, Rosey and Andre all had to pry an outraged Lucious off the final goon named Pancho, who had a broken nose and a shattered orbital bone. He had barely survived the brutal attack just to face Lucious's wrath. "Lucious calls himself going to get Cookie back from Malcolm," Andre clarified.

"Who's Malcolm?" Anika asked.

"The man my mother should've stayed with," Andre said grimly. "You might remember him. He was head of Empire's security for a little while. The one who redesigned the entire building's security system."

"Didn't Lucious fire him because he had sex with Cookie over some weekend up in the mountains?"Anika remembered Malcolm, all right. She had no idea that Malcolm had reported her putting drops in Elle Dallas's tea until after it happened, and the looks he would give Anika from time to time could freeze ice.

"Actually, Lucious fired Cookie," Andre corrected. "He kept Malcolm, but Malcolm quit when he found out what Lucious did to Cookie." Andre smirked, still remembering his father curled up on the floor, courtesy of Malcolm's fist to Lucious's stomach. "I bet when the news about Hakeem and Laura got out, Malcolm called Cookie to make sure she was okay, and Cookie went over to see him at the Sheraton. Doesn't mean that they're sleeping together, but you know Lucious. It's the principle of the thing."

"Aren't you afraid Lucious is going to hurt your mother?" Anika might have despised Cookie, but that didn't mean she wanted to see Cookie harmed, especially not at Lucious's hands. If Lucious had threatened to kill the mother of his grandson, the possibilities of what he would do to Cookie were endless.

Andre gestured for Anika to turn around, then began to massage her shoulders, neck and lower back. "Lucious isn't on some  _'if-I-can't-have-her-nobody-can'_ kind of thing. If Lucious kills Cookie, she'll be gone, so he loses. And if Lucious kills Malcolm, Cookie will never forgive him. So he still loses."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Lucious will kill himself." Anika wondered what Leah would think about Andre's hands all over her body while she sat before him in nothing but her slip. Just hours ago, her mother-in-law stroked Anika's hair as she curled up on the window bench with her head in Leah's lap, crying so hard that she couldn't breathe.  _"Forgive yourself as God has forgiven you, Anika,"_ Leah said soothingly. _"And give this all some time and some space. He'll come around, sweet girl."_

Leah had been spot-on with her prediction, but she wasn't talking about Lucious. "Anika..." Andre said hesitantly. "I told Rhonda about us."

Anika tensed up. "About  _us?_ " The good news was coming in waves on this glorious wedding day. "There is no  _us_ , Andre."

When Andre came by to check up on her the first time Cookie fired her, Anika had thought nothing of it. How many nights had the two of them burned the midnight oil together without even as much as a quickened heartbeat between them? It was hard to believe, but Anika looked at Andre like a brother, while Rhonda had been one of her closest friends for years. There was nothing unusual about him stopping by to see her, though he'd never done so since she moved out of Lucious's home.

That night, Andre held Anika while she broke down in his arms, as she had before when confronted with Lucious's many affairs. He'd encouraged her and pumped her up as he'd done so many times before. They discussed music and God and Lucious and Cookie and even Vernon, just as they'd done many times before. They teased about Anika joining Andre and Rhonda, which was kind of new. Anika knew that Andre and Rhonda were swingers, and Rhonda had been dropping hints of a threesome now that Anika was no longer Lucious's fiancée. But the very idea was so odd to Anika and Andre both that they treated it as more of a joke.

And Andre sang for Anika, as he'd done so many times before. Very few people know what a wonderful singing voice Andre had, especially when he was singing old R&B hits - Stevie, Donny, Marvin, Al. That night, Andre slow danced with Anika as he sang his favorite Sam Cooke song, one that he remembered Cookie singing to him as a child:

 _You send me_  
_Darling you, you, you, you send me_  
_I know that you, you, you, you send me_  
_Honest, you do_  
_Honest, you do._

Andre also asked Anika about the bruises on her body. The day of their failed takeover, Anika was spacey and jumpy, and she wouldn't talk to anyone. There was a faint bruise on her shoulder, in a place where there would be no logical place for a bruise. Another was on her right calf leg, and the skin around her collarbone was concealed with heavy makeup. By the time Andre stopped by two days later, Anika's body was a canvas of colors.

"Please don't tell Cookie," Anika begged Andre. Not because she thought Cookie would care, but because she knew Cookie  _wouldn't_  care. Anika just couldn't take the idea of even more ridicule from her former boss. Ever since the day Cookie fired her (the first time), Anika spent her nights taking scalding hot showers and brushing her teeth until her gums bled. Still, Anika never felt clean after what she'd done with Mimi. That night – and Anika still couldn't figure out why it happened - Andre made her feel clean again.

That was supposed to be the end of it. Anika knew that Andre had just had a weak moment. He'd apologized profusely when it was over, and Anika thanked him for making her whole. They promised to never tell Rhonda, and Anika was genuine in her hopes that Rhonda and Andre would be a happy couple again. She  _adored_  Rhonda. So why – at a time when Rhonda was convinced that Anika had pushed her down a flight of stairs to kill her unborn child – would Andre share their most shameful secret?

Anika wandered over to a dresser and pressed her palms against the flat surface, staring at the mirror in front of her. She was barely able to look herself in the eye. Would she spend her life as the Lyon family semen receptacle?  _Forgive yourself as God has forgiven you._  Well _,_  God might have forgiven Anika, but what about Rhonda? "Why would you tell my best friend that I slept with her husband, Andre?" Anika struggled to keep her emotions under control, but the idea of hurting Rhonda all over again was breaking Anika's heart. "How  _could_  you, Andre?  _Why!?"_

"I  _had_  to, Anika. She's talking crazy, making all kinds of insane accusations-"

"Like you did?" Anika demanded. "You accused me of pushing Rhonda even before she did. She took up for me when you didn't!" Anika would never forget the look in Andre's eyes at the hospital when he jerked her into the stairwell and ordered her to stay away from his wife. When Andre got Anika's envelope in the mail a few days later, all he could do was apologize profusely and make an appointment to see the doctor to have his medication recalibrated. Anika accepted the explanation and accepted the apology, but their friendship never recovered.

"I told you," Andre said. "I'm sorry about that. I truly am. And I'll apologize about it for the rest of my life if that's what it takes. But Rhonda's gone off the deep end-"

"What gave it away?" Anika asked bitterly. "When she attacked me or when she started babbling about some shoes as proof that I pushed her?" Anika rubbed her head. Rhonda might have been wrong in her accusations, but it was Anika who had betrayed her, not the other way around. "Did you show her everything that I sent you?"

"Everything. The phone bill, the Amazon order, the receipt from the sub shop." Andre sighed miserably. "I even offered to take Rhonda to the owner of the shop since he still remembered how much you tipped his kid that night. That's when Rhonda accused me of sleeping with you."

"Is it an accusation if it's true?" Anika asked dryly.

Andre chuckled. "Guess not." The crazy thing was that it was Rhonda's idea for Andre to sleep with Anika. Rhonda had wanted Anika for a while. Andre wouldn't have minded except for the whole engaged-to-Lucious thing, but that vulnerability was shattered when Anika slept with Hakeem.  _"She's hot,"_  Rhonda admired a number of times.  _"And you **know**  she's a freak."_

But Anika was no freak. Nor was she an ice queen like Lucious claimed. Anika was soft and strong and so needing of kindness and encouragement that Andre couldn't help but give it to her that night. Everything his mother had stripped from Anika, Andre gave back. He wiped her tears away as he sang, then he kissed her where the tears had fallen, and before he knew it, Andre was kissing the bruises all over her body. Andre knew that he had Anika where Rhonda wanted her and he probably should've called Rhonda so they could have their night in the sun. Instead, Andre chose that night to atone for the Lyon family's sins against Anika, knowing that she would probably never work with any of them again.

Although they'd only slept together once, Andre knew that he had fallen for Anika that night. The situation was all the more complicated because Anika genuinely adored Rhonda, even though Andre found his wife to be quite two-faced. Anika and Rhonda worked out and shopped together, and Anika had even gone with Rhonda to a few of her OB-GYN appointments, just as Rhonda would eventually go to Anika's. But behind her back, Rhonda regularly called her  _thirsty_  and  _crazy_. "She's like  _Single Half-White Female_ ," Rhonda mocked one day, just minutes after she'd agreed to meet Anika for lunch at the end of the week. 

That's when Andre felt himself drifting away from his wife. He loved Rhonda deeply and he wanted them to be on the same team again. But any time Rhonda started talking about going back to the days when Andre wanted to take over Empire, Andre could feel his head beginning to hurt. By the time Rhonda was staying at Anika's house, Andre could barely tolerate her. 

Now, with Rhonda's twisted demand for justice, Andre could finally admit that while he once loved Rhonda deeply, he couldn't be with her anymore. Their baby was a last-ditch effort to keep them together. Without it, there was nothing for Andre and Rhonda to hold on to, and that was long before Rhonda demanded Andre to murder an unborn child along with his mother. "Rhonda wants me to do to you what she did to Vernon," Anika explained to Anika slowly. "To avenge the loss of our baby. And to prove that I'm loyal to her, that I'm ride or die."

Anika met Andre's eyes in the mirror. For some reason, she wasn't afraid, or even surprised. "Is that's why you're here? To kill me and my baby?" If it was a choice between being murdered or being married to Lucious, Anika was tempted to flip a coin.

Andre walked behind Anika, and wrapped his arms around her body, resting his hands on her belly. " _Our_  baby," he corrected. "And there's no way I'm going to do that. Now Rhonda hates me because of it."

On the night Anika confessed that she was pregnant, Anika and Andre exchanged a glance in the mirror when Andre asked her who her child's father was. Andre didn't know whether to be disgusted or relieved or scared that his cover was about to be blown, but he found that he didn't really care.  _To hell with it!_  Andre wanted to shout.  _Let it all out. Tell her the truth!_  

Then Anika announced that she was carrying Hakeem's baby and the purgatory that was Andre's marriage dragged on. Although poor Hakeem was caught completely off-guard the night Anika made her announcement, he played the role of young father when Andre begged him to.  _"Not forever,"_ Andre promised.  _"Just long enough for me to figure out what I'm going to do."_

When Anika went to lie down, Andre laid next to her, daring to pull her close to his body. Anika knew she should've sent him away – Andre was her best friend's husband, not to mention her husband's son – but Anika hadn't been held this way in so long that she'd forgotten what it was life to be touched tenderly. "I'm leaving Rhonda," Andre told Anika. "But I don't want you to think that you're the reason why this is happening. Me and Rhonda were drifting apart before now."

"I'm still sorry to hear that, Andre," Anika said. "There's no way you can make this work with her? It's been, what...ten years? And she's been with you through so much, Andre."

"I'm not staying with a woman who expects me to kill a baby," Andre said firmly. "What happened with Vernon was self-defense, but what she's asking me to do is just cold-blooded murder. Even if you  _had_  pushed her, I wouldn't do it." Andre thought carefully before he spoke again. "Look, I know you're married. It's a joke of a marriage, but it's still a marriage. But when this whole thing with you and Lucious is all over – the testifying and all of that legal stuff - could you maybe...think about you and me? Because when she comes back from L.A., I'm telling her that we're done. And I've been thinking about you for so long..."

Was Andre telling the truth? And if he was, did it mean that Anika would live to raise her son? And what about Rhonda? First she'd lost the baby, then her best friend and now her husband? Even though Andre said that leaving her had nothing to do with Anika, she still felt like she was the cause of it all. Could Rhonda find it in her heart to forgive the woman who had once been her best friend? What about Andre?  _Could you think about you and me?_

Here, alone, Anika could finally tell Andre the truth. "I've been thinking about us, too," she confessed. "I always felt so bad about it. I really wanted you and Rhonda to work it out, and I was just going to raise my baby on my own. But you were there that night...Rhonda all in my face, pushing me to tell your parents that I was pregnant..."

"...because she knew you were having my baby, not Hakeem's," Andre finished. We never talked about it, but she knew." Truth be told,  _everybody_  in the family knew that Andre had gotten Anika pregnant, yet nobody challenged Anika's claim that Hakeem was her child's father. Anika and Rhonda even continued to hang out together, which made Andre miserable. 

"Rhonda told me everything from your OB-GYN appointments. I know it sounds crazy, but she was really happy for you, even though she knew you were having my baby. I guess it's when she thought you killed her baby in order to protect your baby that everything kind of fell apart. But it's been over between Rhonda and me, Anika. Long before now."

"And now you're saying that you want to be with your father's wife?"

"I'm saying that I don't want Rhonda, and I  _know_  you don't want Lucious." Anika and Andre laughed softly. "Maybe we'll make it work, maybe we won't. But I'd like to give it a try, especially since we have a child to raise. So...how about it?" Andre rolled over and gave Anika that smile she'd grown to love so much over the years. "Will you think of me when this is all over?"

Anika reached out and caressed Andre's face. "I already do," she admitted shyly, and the two of them kissed deeply for the first time in nearly eight months.

With their mutual love acknowledged for the first time ever, Andre placed his hands on Anika's pregnant belly and smiled while his son shifted and kicked, cementing them as a family of three. " _You...send me..."_  Andre wiped the tears from Anika's eyes and kissed the tip of her nose. "Honest, you do," he swore. "You and little Walker."

"Walker?" Anika teased. "You already gave him a name?"

"No, not really. I just call him Walker in my head. You know, after my grandmother." Andre noted the look on Anika's face. "You don't like it, huh?"

"It's fine, although I think it would make a better middle name. Walker for a first name sounds so old...hey, how about Leo?"

"Leo? Like Leo, the lion?"

Anika laughed. "No, I was thinking Leo instead of Leah. But that works, too, doesn't it? Leo Walker Lyon."

"Leo Walker Lyon," Andre repeated slowly. "Anika, that's perfect. That's his name."

Anika beamed at Andre's approval, but her joy was brief. "Lucious might not like it, though. He'll probably hate it, honoring the dead mother that you brought back to life.

"I don't give a damn what Lucious thinks." Andre said stubbornly. "He's our son. And his name is Leo."

Anika stroked Andre's cheek. "Leo," she agreed, and they sealed it with a kiss.

 _"You look down on Dwight,"_ Leah had chastised Andre earlier that day, _"but even your mama talks about what a good father he was every time she was pregnant. 16 years old, Andre, but he was sitting with her at parenting classes and rubbing her feet at night. And you won't even claim your own baby? Well, you're no grandson of mine."_

That day, as Anika and Andre began to make plans for the future, Andre pledged to make his child's namesake proud. If Lucious could be there for his teenage wife at just 16, certainly Andre could be there for Anika. As soon as Hakeem was sober, Andre would tell his younger brother that he could stop claiming Andre's baby as his own. As soon as Rhonda returned from Los Angeles, Andre would inform her that he was filing for a divorce. And once Anika's sham marriage was over and Leo was born, maybe – just  _maybe_  - the two of them could start a relationship. Even if they just stayed friends, Andre and Anika were going to raise Leo together. Of that, Andre was determined to do.

That wasn't to say that little Leo Walker Lyon wasn't being born into a terrible situation. Lucious was married to the mother of Andre's son, and was currently chasing his ex-wife while his  _real_  wife laid in Andre's arms. Meanwhile, Lucious's youngest son was playing proud papa to his older brother's child. It was the kind of scenario that only the Lyon family could be a part of.

Still, Andre knew that they were doing the right thing. The cycle was coming to an end, and he couldn't have been happier about it. It was for the best for everybody involved - even Rhonda – and especially for their little boy.  _Besides,_  Andre thought as he pulled Anika back into his arms and closed his eyes,  _God knows things can't possibly get any worse._

TBC


	2. Why Didn't You Call Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You were never my back-up plan, baby. You were my first choice." Cookie sets the story straight about her breakup with Malcolm.

References:

- _"Remember the last time we had to do this?" -_ from the first chapter of Simply Beautiful.

 _-_   _"I'm going to let this slide because you didn't know any better."_   Second chapter of Sacrifice.

* * *

 Some 15 minutes away, another Lyon lady was getting a second shot at love. "Let me see if I have this right," Malcolm said, wrapping up the teary events that Cookie had relayed in her hitching, hiccuping voice. "Your ex-husband is now married to a woman who is the mother of her own grandchild. And her child-slash-grandchild happens to be your grandchild, who is supposed to be the son of your youngest son, but is actually the son of your  _oldest_  son?"

"Mmm-hmm." Cookie was face down in a plate of chili fries, which had come with Malcolm's bacon cheeseburger – which was also on Cookie's side of the table. Malcolm had been lucky that he got the beer, and that was only because Cookie had his chocolate shake.

"Not that I don't believe that," Malcolm continued, "but how do you know it's Andre's baby and not Hakeem's?"

"Because Andre's name was on the visitor's list back when we thought Anika was about to lose her baby. Stupid ass," Cookie muttered. Why had God cursed her with idiots for sons?

"Andre's a minister," Malcolm reminded Cookie. "A near-miscarriage like that can be scary. Maybe he was there for spiritual guidance."

"At three in the morning, Malcolm?"

"Well...maybe he was just there to do a little laying of the hands that night _._ " Malcolm rubbed his hands together and grinned lasciviously, sending Cookie into a fit of giggles. It was the first time she'd really felt happy all day long.

Andre visiting Anika wasn't the only reason why Cookie knew that Andre, not Hakeem, was the father of Anika's baby. On the day that they all lost Empire to Lucious, Cookie couldn't help but throw Anika just a little bit of shade. "Goddamn it, Kitty," she grumbled on her way down the hall to her office, "if you're gonna be company pussy, I gotta put you up on game."

_Company pussy._  Anika was absentmindedly following Cookie to help her pack her office up, so the words were a like a punch to the gut. The snide remarks and out-of-nowhere insults were never going to stop. Oh, sure, Cookie would bless Anika with a token gesture or a kind word from time to time, filling Anika with joy, but then the cycle of abuse would begin all over again. "Really, Cookie?"

Anika stood before Cookie so prim and proper that Cookie could've puked. "What, you got something you wanna get off your bruised little chest, Boo Boo Kitty? Cat got your tongue?" As if Cookie hadn't noticed those bruises through that god-awful casket ready concealer all over her chest and neck. "Oh, that's right," she added when the color drained from Anika's face. "You can't get anything off with  _your_  tongue." Cookie laughed loudly at her own joke. "I should've known you was down with that freaky shit. 'Cuz I know  _you_  know what a good ass-whuppin' feels like."

Anika had finally taken all she could stand. "Go to hell, Cookie," she choked out, then turned to leave Cookie's office.

"Awww, don't be like that, Fifty Shades!" Cookie called to Anika's back. Suddenly, Andre came out of nowhere and got so close to Cookie that he bumped her back into the room with his chest.  _"Lay off her,"_  Andre ordered between clenched teeth, and the look that he gave his mother could freeze ice. Andre was gone before Cookie could even ask her son who the hell he thought he was talking to.

"Sure you don't want something to eat?" Malcolm asked, interrupting Cookie's thoughts.

"I told you," Cookie said between slurps of Malcolm's shake. "I'm not hungry. Anyway, you were saying something about having trouble breaking your contract?" That was the main reason why Cookie responded to Malcolm's text, or at least that's what she told herself. Cookie didn't have to come to the Sheraton, though she'd tearfully offered to fly to D.C. to see Malcolm, just to get away from the press and Lucious and the realization that Anika was about to become Mrs. Lyon. She was shocked – and hurt – to find that Malcolm had been in New York since Thursday morning. Apparently, he'd had no intentions of telling her so.

"Right. Like I said, government contracts are usually year-to-year. Not impossible to break, but very hard."

"I thought you were working with your cousin at Pope and Associates?"

"I was. And I plan to go back once my contract runs out in six weeks. This was a one-time thing." Malcolm loved working with his little cousin, but the opportunity that had come down from the Pentagon was such a special, one-shot opportunity that even Olivia encouraged him to take it. He had every intention of going back to work for Olivia. Now here was Cookie asking him to come back to New York, and for what? So that Malcolm would have the honor of trailing Lucious Lyon's wife around? "I agree that Anika could use top security at a time like this, but she's not my family. And  _'I need to protect my friend's ex-husband's wife'_  isn't exactly the kind of thing the government cares about."

"What  _could_  break your contract?" Cookie asked. "Or who could I talk to?"

"If you're looking to bribe somebody, forget it," Malcolm warned. "You'll be back in jail before you could finish writing the check."

"Damn!" Cookie had to protect Anika's dumb ass  _somehow_. She still couldn't believe that Anika truly thought Cookie was being serious when she told Anika to sleep with Mimi. It was joke, for goodness's sake – a bitter, frustrated joke, but a joke nonetheless. What the hell had possessed Anika to go over to Mimi's place, and on her own at that? "Well, like I said. What could break your contract?"

"Only family issues, Cookie. A sick parent, custody battles, marriage, that kind of thing."

Cookie looked up from Malcolm's cheeseburger plate. "So if I married you, you could have your contract voided?"

"No, but I could be relocated because it falls under family issues. Well, not an issue per se. But you know what I mean."

"I'll do it," Cookie blurted out without thinking.

"Do what?"

"I'll marry you."

The silence that filled the air made Cookie's cheeks flush with embarrassment. "That wasn't a proposal, Cookie," Malcolm said pointedly. "I was just thinking out loud."

"Oh." Cookie looked down at Malcolm's food. The idea didn't seem so awful in Cookie's mind – hadn't he asked her to move to D.C. with him after just one weekend together? - but it sounded terrible when it was said out loud. And even though Malcolm was speaking in a neutral tone, she could tell how hurt he was. "If we never broke up," she mused aloud, "I'd be Mrs. Malcolm DeVeaux by now, wouldn't I?"

Malcolm nodded. "Yes, I probably would've married you. But you chose Lucious, so I have to respect that." Malcolm spoke those words without emotion, but Cookie knew that they were about to go 'round and 'round, as they always did when this topic came up, which was just about every time they talked.

"I never chose Lucious," Cookie corrected by rote. She wasn't even insulted anymore. "You left me and moved to D.C."

"I asked you come with me, Cookie."

"You could've stayed, Malcolm. Hell, you still had a job. I was the one who got fired."

"Cookie, I wasn't going to work for a man who treated you like that-"

"You could've gotten another job in New York if you wanted to," Cookie pointed out. "You know I couldn't leave New York. I was on parole."

"Cookie, how many times do I have to say this? I told you that I forgot-"

"You should've remembered!" Cookie snapped. "You know everything – how could you forget that I couldn't move with you?"

Malcolm and Cookie's friendship was as cordial as it was fraudulent. He'd sent her flowers the day Lyon Dynasty was put on the map, and was surprised when Cookie called him to say thank you. From there, they'd sent a couple of emails to each other, a few easygoing texts every now and again. Malcolm knew about Laz Delgado, just as Cookie knew about Malcolm's old girlfriend, Raven, and the two of them pretended to be happy for each other. Still, their breakup was a sore subject. Malcolm still felt betrayed, Cookie still felt abandoned, and neither one of them had it in their hearts to forgive the other.

"Cookie...this gets tiring," Malcolm muttered, as if he hadn't started the whole thing this time. "You didn't return any of my messages or my emails..."

"You know I couldn't do that, Malcolm," Cookie said dully. "And you know why."

 _Lucious_ , Malcolm thought, exasperated.  _Always, full circle back to Lucious._  "And you know I'm not afraid of him, Cookie. I can protect myself and you."

"You don't understand," Cookie tried to explain. You think Lucious doesn't have a beef with you because he didn't fire you. I'm telling you, Malcolm - Lucious  _hates_  you. He wants you dead."

"So does my ex-wife," Malcolm said glibly. "So what?"

 _"Goddamn it,_ Malcolm! _"_  Malcolm was only a few years younger than Cookie – not even four - but sometimes he looked and acted like such a child that Cookie could've slapped him. It was all a joke to Malcolm, war hero and all-around bad ass. "This isn't like you picking off insurgents from 500 yards out! If Lucious knew I was here-"

Malcolm stopped laughing, and Cookie cursed herself for saying too much. "If Lucious knew you were here...what?" Malcolm asked while Cookie looked at everything in the room except Malcolm. "Tell me, Cookie, what would Lucious do if he knew you were here?"

A knock on the door cut Malcolm off. "That's probably my cheesecake," Cookie said.

"Cookie. Wait." Malcolm's voice was tense. Security was air tight at conventions like this one - even room service knew to call ahead and give a verbal code - and yet someone was knocking on his door. Cookie's hand was on the doorknob when Malcolm said her name again, very sharply. "Who is it?" he asked. 

Just as he thought, Malcolm got a mumbled answer, followed by another knock, much harder than the first. The effect on Cookie was immediate. That knock, that voice, the impatient turning of the doorknob...suddenly, the very thing Malcolm regularly mocked Cookie for expecting to happen was happening. "Cookie," Malcolm said calmly, though his heart and his mind was racing. "Go into the bedroom and lock the door. I'll take care of this."

"You come with me," Cookie pleaded, grabbing Malcolm by the arm. Malcolm jerked away and gave Cookie a cold look, but Cookie rushed on. "You know don't these guys. I do." These were Lucious's mad dogs at the door, and they had one mission: to get Cookie out of this suite and back to Lucious, come what may. "If I just leave with them, they'll leave you alone-"

"Not happening." Malcolm corralled Cookie into the bedroom and looked around. International security conferences were notorious for exchanging all sorts of authentic foreign weaponry. Malcolm had already packed up most of his new loot to be shipped home, but there were a few things still lying around. A beautifully crafted  _assegai_  spear was in the front room, while the table in the bedroom boasted a curved blade that Cookie had admired, a set of throwing stars, and a set of  _nunchaku_  with intricately engraved ebony handles.

Yet Malcolm chose none of those things. Out of all the sharp and lethal objects Malcolm had within his grasp, he picked up a simple pair of rattan sticks about two feet long and headed for the door.  _Escrima_ , Cookie remembered Malcolm calling them when she asked. "Malcolm," Cookie said weakly. This idiot really thought he could go outside and face hardened street thugs and ex-felons with some goddamned sticks? "Malcolm, please, don't go out there.  _Please_."

"Stay in here, Cookie," Malcolm ordered. "Do  _not_  open that door. No matter what you hear, keep this door locked." Malcolm leaned over and kissed Cookie on her cheek, and Cookie knew once and for all that Malcolm was one chili fry short of a cheeseburger plate. If Cookie didn't know any better, she could've sworn that Malcolm was actually looking forward to this confrontation.

"Malcolm! Malcolm!" Cookie cried after him, but Malcolm was already at the door.  _Oh, Malcolm, why are you doing this?_ The soft  _shhh_  of wood crossing wood as Malcolm pulled his sticks from the small of his back made Cookie's heart drop. She had a terrible feeling that Malcolm would've been  _less_  dangerous with his pistol. And of course, Cookie was right.

The sounds happened almost simultaneously – the opening of the door, followed immediately by the sound of wood slamming into bone. Disregarding Malcolm's orders, Cookie flung the door open and was greeted with a horrifying sight. Blood was pouring from the nose of one of Lucious's men, who was being choked by Malcolm's forearm. "May I help you gentlemen?" he asked politely, then dropped the bleeding bodyguard like a sack of potatoes.

" _Malcolm!"_

Cookie saw the flash of the knife when Ricky, one of Lucious's toughest men, lunged at Malcolm. Malcolm parried away from him easily, trapping Ricky's armed hand, then lunged forward, sticking Ricky's knife into his own ribs. Another thug named Rico tried to lunge in, but Malcolm released a staggering Ricky, locked Rico's wrist in a figure four hold and took him to the ground with no trouble at all.

A new guy named Nacho stood frozen at the door, watching the toughest men he knew being disabled by a man who had dealt with far worse horrors overseas. When Nacho's eyes met Malcolm's, his face grew as white as the front of his pants grew dark with urine.  _He's just a boy,_ Malcolm thought as he grabbed the short spear with his free hand, went to one knee - which put even more pressure on Ricky's wrist - and hurled the spear so hard that it stuck into the wall.  _"Go back to school!"_  Malcolm roared as the piss-soaked Nacho ran like hell. A heavily bleeding Ricky staggered after him. Malcolm's four-to-one odds were now two-to-one, and one of those two was still unconscious. 

Calmly, Malcolm shifted his wrist lock up higher, trapping Rico's shoulder. "Stand up." Rico, still in Malcolm's agonizing grip, had no choice but to follow wherever Malcolm move, lest his shoulder snap like a twig. Malcolm yanked the short spear out of the wall and put it underneath Rico's chin. "What is your name, sir?" he asked, as blandly as if he was asking Rico for the time.

Rico tried to answer, but couldn't. The spear was digging underneath his chin, and blood dripped from his chin and down his shirt. "I see you have trouble answering questions." Malcolm slowly pressed the spear even deeper into Ricky's skin, causing the cut to bleed even more.  _"What...is...your name?!"_ Malcolm yelled in Rico's ear.

"Ree...Ree-o." Rico breathed, too afraid to lower his chin far enough to pronounce his name correctly.

"Ree-o. Hello, Ree-o." Malcolm pointed to the still-unconscious man on the floor with his spear. "And him?"

"P-P-Pancho."

"Pancho." Malcolm tossed his short spear aside; with Rico's shoulder so tightly locked, he had no need for it. "Your friend Pancho looks like he's waking up, Ree-o. And that's good. I want you to take your friend Pancho here and get him some medical help. And when you're through, I want you to go back to Lucious Lyon and tell him not to send his bitches after me anymore. Okay? I'm right here if he wants to find me. There's no need for anyone else to get hurt." 

Smiling, Malcolm slowly licked the blood pouring from Rico's chin, then kissed his cheek tenderly. "Do you have any questions, Ree-o?" Malcolm asked through his blood-colored lips. Rico shook his head furiously. "Excellent. Take care, Ree-o." And then, just for the hell of it, Malcolm broke Rico's shoulder anyway.

Cookie didn't stick around to see how it all ended, and she barely made it to the toilet in time. Up came the chili, the cheese, the fries, the burger, the chocolate shake and everything else until Cookie was coughing up nothing but bile. What she'd witnessed was too much like those horrible beat downs that Cookie had witnessed over the years in prison, only much, much more brutal. 

Cookie knew Malcolm was every bit as hard as Lucious was. But now Cookie understood why Malcolm avoided the other weapons when he confronted Lucious's men: had Malcolm defended himself with anything other than his escrima sticks, at least three of the four of them would be dead.

* * *

Malcolm had a few smashed fingers and some splinters - the escrima sticks weren't polished, as it turned out - but was none the worse for wear. Secretly, Malcolm was furious with Cookie. All it would've taken was one of Lucious's Rent-a-Thugs to push past Malcolm, throw the suite door open and drag her out of there. But Cookie wouldn't be Cookie if she actually followed directions, and it was hard to stay mad at her when Cookie was still on the floor near the toilet after Malcolm had written out an incident report, conversed with his supervisors and took a quick shower in the guest bathroom. 

"Remember the last time we had to do this?" he asked, bringing Cookie to her feet to clean herself up. "That day when you drank all that lean and almost got robbed?"

Cookie groaned at the memory. Malcolm saved her from getting jacked and managed to drag Cookie into his truck. Cookie repaid the favor by throwing herself at him, then vomiting in the back of his truck. "You got me back up to my old office somehow." Cookie remembered. "The one all the way up on the 13th floor."

"And I rinsed your mouth out, even though you kept threatening to swallow it." Malcolm playfully squeezed Cookie's rear end. "I knew back then your ass was nasty." He left the bathroom for a minute, coming back in with a first aid kit, complete with tweezers to dig the splinters out of his hands. Doing so was actually more painful than the splinters themselves.

"Yeah, and you started taking my clothes off, too." Cookie laughed, taking Malcolm's hands and reaching for some alcohol and cotton balls.

"Just your boots," Malcolm corrected. "I got you to lie down and I got you a blanket," he added honorably. "And you finally went to sleep."

"Mmm-hmmm." Malcolm might have been a navy bad-ass, but Cookie had the gentle touch of a mother with three sons. With the first aid tweezers and a steady hand, Cookie was able to extract the splinters easily. "And then you kissed me." She brought Malcolm's hand to her lips and kissed two of his smashed, blistered fingertips.

"I shouldn't have done that," Malcolm admitted. It was just that Cookie was lying there so soft and sweet while she was sleeping. "Thanks for the first aid, Dr. Cookie." He gave Cookie one of his stomach-fluttering smiles. "Lucious is going to be pissed off that his guys are coming back without you. Maybe you can calm his down so he doesn't come to kill me."

"Don't be like that, Malcolm." Cookie followed Malcolm out of the bathroom and into the front of the suite. Even though Malcolm was standing before her, Cookie was still afraid for him. Her beautiful, beautiful Malcolm, laid out on the road, dead, like Laz, or worse. Lucious's words made Cookie's body go numb all over again.  _I'm going to let this slide because you didn't know any better. Next time, I won't be so merciful._ "I'm here with you, right now. Isn't that enough?"

"Am I supposed to be flattered that you thought of me, Cookie? You used me to get away from Lucious, and you're using me now for the exact same thing. I'm not your backup plan just in case Lucious lets you down. Which he has a tendency to do, from what I can see." Cookie lowered her eyes, but Malcolm wasn't done. "So no, I'm not all that excited that you're here, especially since you're standing in front of me dressed like  _all-my-life-I-had-to-fight."_

"Huh?"

"Purple is Lucious's favorite color, not yours." Malcolm wiped down the front room table and threw away the way the last of his  _(well, Cookie's)_ lunch. " _Your_  favorite color is green. You told me that up in the Berkshires."

Malcolm was right. Cookie never liked the color purple, but she was wearing a purple dress that she didn't really like, purple shoes that Cookie knew she'd never wear again and a purple wrap that she'd been losing all day long. Even now, she dressed for Lucious's gaze. "Crazy...I'm just so used to it. I really wanted to get this green gown that would've matched my-"

"Take it off."

"What?"

Malcolm leaned up against the table. "I said," he ordered, his voice a little softer, a little warmer. "Take...your dress... _off_."

Cookie hesitated. She'd been slacking on her diet lately, and was softer in places than she wanted to be, but it wasn't in her nature to back down. Malcolm's lips twitched as Cookie slowly peeled the gown off her breasts. She held Malcolm's gaze as she pushed it down off her hips and to the floor. 

"Wow," Malcolm admired softly as Cookie stood back up, dressed in nothing but her oversized necklace, a t-back – a green one – and her high heels. Cookie turned her back and pulled her hair off her shoulders with one hand, then placed her palms on the table, spread her legs apart, and waited to see what Malcolm would do next.

Malcolm's erection fit perfectly in the small of Cookie's back as he carefully removed her necklace, letting his lips follow everywhere his fingers had been. He went to his knees, hooked the side of Cookie's underwear with his index fingers, and slowly slid them down her hips and thighs, kissing the small of her back and the curve of her ass and everywhere else that he could. 

Boldly, Cookie turned around and faced a still-kneeling Malcolm, who traced the sensitive skin below her navel with his tongue. He smiled when the muscles in her stomach twitched. "Why didn't you call me when you got here?" Cookie had to ask.

Malcolm's smile faded as he stood up. "Because you know how I feel about you, Cookie."

"Yeah. I do." Malcolm told Cookie that he loved her after their second night together – though, in Malcolm's defense, he was nearly asleep when he said it, and he never said it again. Cookie rose her body up so she could sit on the table. She wrapped her heels around Malcolm's waist, which made him smile. "Malcolm...Lucious asked me to marry him the day I asked you to take me somewhere. I turned him down." 

"You...you turned him down?" Malcolm asked, stunned. "You turned Lucious down to go away with me?" 

"Mmm-hmm." Cookie took Malcolm's shocked face into her hands. "Malcolm, you were  _never_  my back-up plan. You were my first choice. And I would've tried to work it out with you when you left, Malcolm, but Lucious swore he would kill you if  I ever saw you again..."

"Shh, shh. It's okay." Malcolm pulled Cookie to her feet and into his arms, which Cookie had been waiting for all day. "I'm sorry, Cookie. I just didn't know." Malcolm put his arms around Cookie's waist. "But I'm not afraid of Lucious, Cookie. I'm afraid of being without you." Malcolm tilted Cookie's chin and looked her square in the eye. "I never stopped loving you." He put his finger across Cookie's lips before she could speak. "Don't say it back unless you mean it, Cookie. Just know that I do."

"Okay. Now I know." That was enough for Malcolm, who would rather Cookie not say  _I love you_  back, rather than saying it and not really meaning it. "I'll make you a deal," he offered with a smile. "You let me worry about Lucious, and you just worry about you and me. Deal?"

"Deal. Now, _please_  tell you have a condom," Cookie said, tugging Malcolm's by the waist as she led him to the bedroom, still wearing those heels and nothing else.

"Of course," Malcolm said smoothly, as if he hadn't asked Spencer to bring him some when he showed up at Malcolm's door to help drag Lucious's bodyguards away. "You know I'm always prepared. And I'll always be ready for you."

* * *

Cookie had never been very vocal in bed. Between growing up with two sisters, then three sons, and then her stint in community living, Cookie could climax in a voice as soft as a whisper. But that afternoon, moving from one position to the other all around the suite - from the back, from on top, from below, bed, sofa, floor, table, wall - Cookie's whispers turned into whimpers, then into moans, then finally into one long cry that got higher and faster and louder until it broke into a long, ecstasy-filled scream.

 _She is so beautiful,_  Malcolm thought, watching Cookie ride him confidently – a far cry from the shy, tentative woman he'd made love to in the Berkshires. Head thrown back, hands braced against his chest, crying out just as she had been the first night they made love. He could've taken over and finished her off much sooner, and Cookie would've gladly let him. But Malcolm instinctively knew to let Cookie bring herself back down this time, though it was killing him to do so. Cookie was having a moment to herself, and Malcolm felt honored just to bear witness to it.

* * *

 

"You know something?" Malcolm said later on as Cookie relaxed in a hot bath. "You purr when you come."

"What you you mean, I purr?" Cookie asked, sipping on her strawberry daiquiri between bites of cheesecake from Malcolm's fork. Her entire body ached deliciously from their lovemaking, and the warm water would help with her sore muscles. Malcolm loved to watch Cookie bathe, but he wouldn't be joining her. The one thing Cookie and Malcolm couldn't agree on was water temperature.

Malcolm soaped up her washcloth and began to wash Cookie's neck and shoulders. "Well, you make this noise –  _mmmmm_." Malcolm made a noise like a dying lawnmower, and Cookie laughed until her abs hurt. "Well, you do! You  _purr_ , Cookie," Malcolm insisted. "Honest, you do. Only it sounds sexy when you do it."

Cookie sat up, splashing some of the water onto the bathroom floor. A tuneless song was pushing through Cookie's brain, from a place very far away.  _Honest, you do...honest, you do..._ "Cookie? You okay?" Malcolm asked, gritting his teeth as he scooped warm water into his hand and poured it down Cookie's back. Honestly, the woman couldn't bathe in any water less than scalding. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No...I mean yeah. I'm okay. And you didn't say anything wrong." Cookie took Malcolm's hand and rose from the bathtub. "You just reminded me of this song I used to sing this song to Andre when he was a baby. But I can't remember it," she said while Malcolm led Cookie back into the bedroom and toweled her off. Cookie tried to hum the tune from the back of her head, but it wasn't coming. She just remembered the words Malcolm had just said. "Honest, you do," she repeated tonelessly. She could hear the rhythm, but not the tune itself. "Honest, you do, honest, you do..."

"Sounds like 'You Send Me,'" Malcolm suggested. "Sam Cooke?"

"Yes!" The song and the words rushed back into Cookie's memory. "That's it!" Cookie fished out some lotion from her purse and straddled Malcolm's back, humming happily to herself. 

Malcolm glanced over at the alarm clock by his bed. It was to believe that Cookie had only been there for three hours. The sun hadn't even begun to set. "You know, you don't seem like the lullaby type." Cookie's hands felt so good going up and down his back that Malcolm struggled to stay awake. "Then again, I guess Sam Cooke isn't a lullaby. Still, I would've like to have heard that back in the day."

Cookie had always been self-conscious about her voice, which was more Tina than Aretha. She rarely sang to anybody except her babies, not even for Lucious. But Cookie felt compelled all of a sudden, so when it was time for Malcolm to turn on his back, Cookie straddled Malcolm's lap and obliged him, though she was so overcome at the sight of Malcolm lying beneath her that Cookie could barely get the words out.

 _You send me_  
_Darling you, you, you, you send me_  
_I know that you, you, you, you send me_  
_Honest, you do_  
_Honest, you do._

"That's beautiful." Malcolm smiled as he ran his hands up and down Cookie's bare thighs, which he then guided on top of his body, lifting her up so she could slide down his length in that way that drove Malcolm crazy. "Do you really want to marry me, Cookie?" he asked her when they finished making love again. "I still want to take care of you if you'll let me. And I'll protect you. Anika, too, and your grandchild."

Cookie hadn't even thought about protecting Anika or anything like that since before Lucious's goons showed up. "Malcolm...I'm still a little tipsy, and I'm  _very_  dick drunk. Can we talk about this in the morning?"

Malcolm's laughter filled the room, blending well with Cookie's giggles. "Yeah, we better," he agreed. It wasn't a good idea to make life-altering decisions after a taste of Cookie's nookie. "That didn't count, by the way. Just so you know. I'm still just thinking out loud."

"My ass, it didn't count." Cookie snuggled in close, lying her head on Malcolm's chest. "Although I guess we have all night to talk about it, don't we?"

"Do we?" Malcolm asked innocently. "Are you staying with me tonight?"

"That was the plan," Cookie yawned. "Unless you have something different planned for tonight."

Malcolm kissed Cookie over her eyebrow. "You wanna leave?" he teased. Cookie had been the one to throw those words out to him all that time ago. It felt like ages ago and yesterday at the same time. 

Cookie tilted her chin upward and kissed Malcolm on the chin.  _"You...send me..."_ Cookie sang, and her voice was clear and strong this time. "Honest, you do," she added, and nestled up against him to go back to sleep. There was no for Cookie to respond to Malcolm's question. He already knew what her answer would be.

* * *

But Cookie couldn't sleep because she couldn't get Anika off her mind. Lucious marrying Anika really  _was_  a good idea. Anika couldn't be forced to testify against him in court, and Lucious would stay out of prison. But...Lucious didn't have to marry that girl.  _He didn't!_ Cookie thought angrily.  _Just like he didn't have to divorce me while I was in prison!_  Lucious could've found a way to protect Anika and keep Cookie if he really wanted to, just like Lucious could've broken it off with Anika and still gotten his IPO if he really wanted to.

For all of Lucious's  _ride-or-die bullshit,_  the truth was that the person Lucious looked out first and foremost was Lucious. Whether it was using Andre for his business acumen or Jamal to get his masters back or Cookie for his ego, Lucious would run over anybody who stood in his way. Seeing the blank look on Anika's face while the Lyons all talked about her like she wasn't even there was what finally pushed Cookie out the door. It was as if a part of her wanted to show Anika that she could be free of all of this if she wanted to be. Who cared if Lucious went to prison or not? What happened to the Anika who told Cookie that she wanted to hurt Lucious at all costs?

 _Anika, Anika, Anika. How did a girl like you get yourself into this mess?_ Anika, whom Cookie saved from death yesterday but insulted to her face today, was once again being used by a Lyon. Hakeem used her to get back at his father. Lucious used her to get her father to sign off on his health. Andre was possibly using Anika to replace the child that Rhonda lost. 

But it was Cookie who was the worst of all, shamelessly pimping Anika in the process and mocking her when Anika misunderstood Cookie's intentions. Even now, the thought of all the things Mimi did to Anika that night filled Cookie with such hatred that her heart began to pound. Had Mimi done such things to Cookie, that would have been one thing. But to do it to Anika?  _The bitch got what she deserved,_ Cookie thought when Mimi was killed. She thought so then and she thought so now.

 _But you killed Anika,_  a nagging voice in Cookie's head said.  _You were the one who drove Anika to self-destruction._ _You were the one who threw her away when you were done using her to build your brand._   _You pushed her and pushed her until she broke._

"Cookie?" The feel of Cookie's heart racing against his chest stirred Malcolm out of his sleep. "What's wrong? You're not thinking of Lucious, are you?"

"Hell, no," Cookie lied. "I'm thinking about all the things we're gonna do tonight." Cookie rolled over and kissed Malcolm for good measure, trying to relax again, but her mind was still on Anika. Had Cookie thought that she could drag Anika away from Lucious when she left, she would have. But by God, Cookie was going to figure out a way to deliver Anika and her grandson from the Lyons' den. Cookie owed that child that much, at the very least, for destroying Anika's soul.

Malcolm knew Cookie was lying, but he didn't care. If Cookie truly wanted to be with Lucious, that's where she would be. "Remind me...who worries about Lucious again?" Malcolm asked, letting his hands drift between Cookie's thighs.

"You do... _ohhh_ , you do." Anika was going to have to be put on the back burner for now.  _Besides,_  Cookie thought, her body tingling with anticipation,  _God knows that girl's life can't get any worse._

"And remind me again...who does Cookie worry about?" Malcolm prompted, sliding two fingers inside of her while peppering her neck and breasts with kisses.

"Shit...you and me." Cookie spread her legs wider to give Malcolm full access to her lower body. "You and me..."

Malcolm slid another finger inside of Cookie's hot, slick heat. "Who?" he asked again, loving the feel of Cookie's hips bucking against his hand as he teased her nipples with his tongue. "Who does Cookie worry about?"

"Oh, God...you and...you... _y_ _ou and me!_ "

With that, Malcolm sent Cookie to that place where she screamed out for him all over again, crying out his name over and over until she was rendered incoherent. The sounds from the suite were very faint from the outside of the room, but just loud enough and familiar enough to make a lone figure to stop dead in his tracks, go back down the hallway and hurry out of the Sheraton hotel, his hazel-brown eyes burning with rage.

TBC


	3. Don't Leave Me This Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Anika deserves so much better than you." Cycles end when they are supposed to end, but the Lyons soon learn that they can begin just as quickly.

Notes:

 _\- "...[s]he'd promised not to put her hands on him again."_  From Déjà Vu.

* * *

It was pitch black in the bridal suite when Anika woke up. "Andre." Anika gently nudged Andre in the ribs.  _"Andre._  How long have we been asleep?"

Slowly and grudgingly, Andre joined Anika back in a world where she was his father's wife. Marrying Anika to Lucious had been the most painful thing he'd ever had to do, man of the cloth or not. Andre grabbed his phone and flipped it on. "Wow, it's a quarter to nine."

"It is?" Anika sat up and stretched, trying to clear her head, but Andre pulled her back into his arms. He wasn't ready to give Anika back to Lucious just yet. "Anika, I meant everything I said," he promised. "It's over between me and Rhonda. You keep that in mind while you and Lucious are out on your romantic honeymoon."

"Knowing Lucious, he'll take me straight to a river to dump my body in," Anika said sourly.

"Don't say that, Anika." Andre squeezed Anika's hands gently, though he was at a loss for words. Lucious had straight up threatened to kill his son's mother. There was no way in hell Lucious thought that Hakeem was really the child of Anika's baby. Did he think he was doing Andre a favor by getting rid of Anika after Leo was born? "Lucious is not going to hurt you, no matter what he says. I'm not going to let him hurt you. I promise. Even if you have to move in with me."

"You mean you and Rhonda?" Anika asked dryly.

"If that's what it takes, yes."

"Then everybody will know about us."

"Then they'll know."

 _The cycle ends when it's supposed to end,_  Anika thought as the two of them laid there, trying to stretch this sweet moment out a little while longer. "To breaking the cycle," Anika pledged with a smile.

Andre took Anika's hands in his own and kissed them. "To our family," Andre agreed. "To me and you, and to Leo."

"To Leo," Anika repeated. She kissed Andre's hand, then giggled when Andre's hands began to slide upward. "Andre, stop it! That tickles."

"Let me see 'em." Andre gently squeezed one of Anika's breasts. "What?" he said playfully when Anika swatted his hand away. "It's not like I haven't seen them before."

That was true, but that was also before Anika's bust line ramped up to a D-cup. "Right now, little Leo is pressing up against my bladder. So unless you want to swim out of this bed, get out of my way."

It was time for her to return to her life as Mrs. Lucious Lyon.  _Be care what you wish for._  For years, Anika had wanted nothing more than to be Lucious's wife. Now she was, and she could've cried because of it. Anika turned on the light, then bolted upright. "Andre," she managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper. "Andre..."

Andre rolled over, then sat up sharply. "Dad?" he said to the silent, unmoving figure now bathed in the room's light. "What the hell are you doing in here!?"

"I was trying to find my lovely wife. I figured that she would be wherever one of my sons was at, and I was right." Lucious shot Anika a disappointed look, as if she hadn't made the honor roll or missed the game-winning goal. "You didn't waste no time, did you?"

"Nothing happened," Anika said, not that it mattered. Andre was her child's father, plus he was married to her best friend. What they'd done or hadn't done over the last couple of hours was the least of her problems. But while Anika had done a number of things that she wasn't proud of, even she wouldn't stoop as low as to have sex with her stepson on her wedding day, even if she was married to Lucious Lyon.

Lucious ignored Anika's declaration. "You know," he said, leaning back in his chair with no intentions of leaving any time soon. "Seeing you two lying there together reminds me of when me and Cookie used to sleep like that."

"Oh, God," Anika muttered, watching that small, smeary smile creeping across Lucious's face like it always did when he talked about pre-prison Cookie. Anika always thought that was odd when they were together, considering what a terrible person Lucious regularly told Anika that Cookie was. Now Anika knew better. "We lost our virginity to each other." Lucious nodded to Andre. "A few weeks later, Cookie got pregnant, we were married, and you came along, Andre. Happiest day of my life."

"Is that right?" Anika asked coolly. This was a far cry from Lucious's constant claims that his ex-wife was a tramp and Andre might not be his son.

Again, Lucious ignored Anika. "Your mama was so beautiful when she was pregnant, Andre. She kind of waddled around like one of those little Weeble Wobble toys because she was such a tiny little thing. But you know what the funny thing was, Dre?"

"What?" Andre said coldly. The more Lucious talked about how much he loved Cookie, the bigger the asshole he looked for divorcing her. The sooner Lucious finished this walk down memory lane, the better.

Lucious sat up, his eyes glinting. "Even though Cookie wasn't feeling good, she was still down for whatever, whenever. Anywhere. Yeaaaah," Lucious said, raking his eyes up and down Anika's barely-dressed body, "ain't no kind of pussy like pregnant pussy. Not yours, though, Anika," Lucious added with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Yours is trash. But maybe you do it better with Dre."

"Cut it out," Andre said sharply. The last thing he wanted to hear were graphic details about sex between his father and his mother – or his child's mother, for that matter.

"Oh, but me and Anika are man and wife now, Dre. I know it's all just a paper chase, but I still expect Anika to do her wifely duties. At least until Cookie comes to her senses." Lucious shrugged. "Then she can fuck all your brothers at the same time, for all I care. Mimi tells me she's into that kind of thing."

"I said cut it out, Lucious," Andre said, though he didn't sound all that assertive. Anika kept her head up, though it was hard to with shots like that.

Lucious laughed. "Speaking of wives, where's yours, Andre? The one your baby mama pushed down the stairs?"

"That's not going to work, Lucious," Anika said firmly. "I can prove where I was that night. Andre's seen all the evidence." She waited for Andre to back her up, but was forced to push on when he didn't. "Rhonda  _fell_. That's all there is it to it. I don't want to hear about it anymore."

"My mama really got your head gassed up, didn't she?" Lucious asked, a little irritated that Anika hadn't wilted under his words. "She's really got you thinking that you're a lady." He smiled when Anika didn't answer, for even she couldn't make such a claim. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Dre." 

Lucious stood up. "By the way, Rhonda's looking for you. She didn't seem too happy when I told her that you were with Anika. But I'm sure she understands that you two need to be together to discuss this baby that  _might_  be yours. If I were you, I would worry more about your own wife..." Lucious smiled down at Anika, still dressed in nothing but her slip. "...and let me worry about mine."

Lucious winked at Anika, and her stomach plunged. "You can't make me do anything," she said, growing queasy at Lucious's not-quite-a-smile.

Andre didn't even look at Anika as he rose from the bed. He said nothing as he dutifully put on his shoes and kept his eyes down as he put on his dress shirt. "Andre?" Anika said, disbelieving. What happened to the man who assured her that they were ready to break the cycle, no matter what Lucious wanted? Tears came to her eyes as Andre finished getting dressed. "Andre..."

Meanwhile, Lucious never took his eyes off Anika. "Andre..." she tried again, but Andre wouldn't even look at her in the mirror, let alone hear her out. They'd been gassing themselves up. _"Andre!"_  Devastated, humiliated and becoming more and more afraid, Anika dropped her head and began to cry. Anika knew that Lucious would never rape her – kill her, sure, but not rape her - but it was hard to see her Andre castrated so quickly, not when Anika knew Andre's plans for the future. With Lucious as his father, he could never dream of ending the cycle. She couldn't watch anymore.

Choking sounds made Anika's head pop up. Andre had Lucious in a tight grip around his neck. "Here's what's going to happen next," Andre hissed in Lucious's ear as his father fought for air. "You're going to go back into the ballroom. I'm going to walk Anika out to that big back balcony. I will meet you in the lobby, and then I'm going to get Anika. We're all going to walk out together, but she's leaving with me. You will never-" Andre tightened his grip on Lucious's neck for emphasis – "ever be alone with her again. Understand?"

"Andre, no!" Anika never thought she would stop anyone from hurting Lucious – of all people – but Lucious was starting to turn colors. "Andre! Please, stop!"

Andre let go of Lucious and threw him to the ground. "Get out," he ordered, his chest rising and falling with every breath. "And if you ever touch Anika again, I'll kill you myself."

Eyes blazing, Lucious scrambled to his feet. Andre cocked his fist back, ready for war. "Stop!  _Stop!_ " Anika stumbled out of bed and placed her pregnant body between the two men in her life – father and son, husband and child's father – and prayed that her presence would be enough. "Please! Lucious, just go! Please?"

Lucious's eyes lingered on his half-dressed wife. His eyes flickered to the urine streaming down Anika's shaking legs. "I should've pushed you when I had the chance, you filthy bitch."

Once Lucious was gone, Andre pulled Anika into his arms, comforting her. "He's just messing with your head, Anika," Andre promised. "He would never hurt you, not like that..."

"He hates me, Andre," Anika sobbed. "What did I ever do to him? I'm sorry I'm not Cookie, but what else I can do to make him stop hurting me so bad?"

"It doesn't matter. Look at me." Andre took Anika's face in her hands. "I will never let anything happen to you. Do you understand? I will not let Lucious hurt you ever again. Believe in me. Please."

Anika took a few deep breaths until she pulled herself back together as best as she could. "You better go talk to Rhonda while I get dressed, Andre. There's no telling what Lucious told her."

"Rhonda's in L.A." Andre waved his hand. "That's why she's not here at the wedding. Lucious is just lying, like he always does. And I'm not leaving you alone again, Anika. We leave together."

Anika washed her slip and underwear by hand. Andre chuckled to himself when she put them both back on damp. She might have been sleeping with most of Andre's family, but the second generation debutante refused to be seen without the proper undergarments. It was part of Anika's charm. "You ready? C'mon, let's go. The cycle ends. Tonight."

"Wait-what?" Andre half-walked, half-dragged Anika out into the hallway. "Where are they?" he muttered over and over. "Where's Lucious? Where is he?"

"He's over there. Andre, what are you doing?" Hakeem's party was starting to wind down, and Lucious was chewing out his youngest son as if he, like Andre, was the biggest disappointment in his life. Hakeem's friends were struggling to separate the two, for everybody knew that Hakeem would never be able to win in a scrap against his father. Jamal and Leah were pleading from the sidelines, but between Jamal's injury and Leah's age, they weren't much help to Hakeem.

When Lucious shoved Hakeem to the floor, Andre had seen enough.  _ **"LUCIOUS!"**_

The entire room stood still while Anika was forced to walk behind Andre or get dragged. "Say, man." Hakeem's friends pulled him back to his feet as Andre and Anika came towards him, holding hands. "Whatchu doin' with my...my baby...my mama..."

"Don't strain yourself, Hakeem." Andre pushed past his brothers and stood toe-to-toe with his father, still holding Anika's hand. "Anika is having  _my_  baby, not Hakeem's. And when your bullshit marriage is over and  _my_  bullshit marriage is over, we're going to raise our baby together."

The silence that followed was comical, especially when Lucious gave his wife a look of disgust. "You two deserve each other," he muttered.

Andre reached back for Anika's hand, never taking his eyes off Lucious, and kissed the back of it. "You're right," Andre said. "Anika deserves  _so_  much better than you."

All Lucious could do was shake his head and walk away. "Worrrrrd?" Jamal finally said as Hakeem's friends began to scatter. "I'ma be a uncle?"

"Shut up, Jamal!" Andre playfully shoved Jamal, and the three brothers embraced. The secret-that-was-hardly-a-secret was out now. The cycle of destruction and lies started by Lucious Lyon - or Dwight Walker or whoever the hell he was - was over. Leah took Anika by the hand and squeezed her tightly. "I told you he would come around," she said, and Anika nodded tearfully. Then Jamal and Hakeem were around Anika, kissing her cheek and giving their congratulations. "Hakeem, I'm so sorry," Anika said, taking Hakeem by the shoulders. "I never should've pulled you into this. I just panicked that night when I said your name."

"She's right." Andre put his arm around Anika's wait and drew her close, not giving a damn who saw them. "We should've told the truth a lot sooner. I'm sorry, too, little brother."

"Hey, it was the least I could do for treating Anika the way I did." Hakeem beamed. Admittedly, he'd gotten in a little too deep in the whole faux-fatherhood act, even turning his home into a Baby Wonderland, but no one could accuse him of not having Andre's back.

Announcing Anika's pregnancy was nothing like last time, with Anika standing off to the side and everybody pretending that they didn't know good and hell well that Andre, who had been standing to Anika's side, wasn't her child's father. This was all honest – dysfunctional, but honest – and Anika was still bubbling with happiness as Andre escorted her to the back balcony. "To breaking the cycle," Andre declared, and they kissed under the stars, filled with hope for the future. "How sweet it is."

"Who are you texting?" Anika asked when Andre let her go and reached for his phone. "Your brothers?"

"Cookie rode with me over here, and I know she thought she'd be riding home with Lucious. I just want to make sure she can come home with me if she doesn't want to ride with him." Andre texted his mother for what seemed like forever, then stuck his phone back in his suit pocket, and held Anika for a little while. "You scared?" he asked her. "Riding home with Cookie and me, and maybe confronting Rhonda tonight?"

"I just want it all to be over," Anika answered back. "Just don't leave me alone with either one of them."

"I won't. I promise." Andre kissed Anika, then rubbed her stomach. "I'll be right back, okay? Don't go anywhere."

Alone, Anika cracked a smile at Cookie not coming back with Lucious from the Sheraton Hotel. Whatever had happened over there was enough to push Lucious into the room with Anika and Andre and sit there for God only knew how long. Then Anika looked down at Leah's ring on her finger – a hand-me-down ring for a hand-me-down Lyon, Lucious had scoffed before the ceremony – and her joy was replaced with sadness. Anika was still Mrs. Lucious Lyon, Andre was still married to Rhonda, and there was no telling what was going to happen once Leo was born. Was Andre strong enough to step to his father to save her life, just as he had done tonight? And how could Anika ever face Rhonda again?

_It's like me and Cookie all over again._

Then again, Anika reminded herself, Andre had told her that he and Rhonda were on the outs before now. As screwed up as the situation was, maybe everything could work out for the best after all.  _Maybe Rhonda can find it in her heart to forgive me. Maybe Cookie might respect me for a change. May-_

* * *

Cookie's phone had different rings for different people. "That's Andre," Cookie mumbled at the sound of Vivaldi's  _Four Seasons_. "Hand me my phone, Malcolm." It was a short message – the wedding was over and Andre was about to go home. **NEED A RIDE?**

 **IM GOOD,**  Cookie texted back.  **SEE U ON MONDAY. K?** Andre responded by sending her a bunch of messages all at one. "Huh."

"What is it?" Malcolm asked, turning the light on.

A thin smile spread across Cookie's face. "Andre just told me that he's the father of Anika's baby..." Cookie scrolled down. "...that he's going to try to have a relationship with her...he's leaving Rhonda. Wow." Cookie shook her head. "I guess he's trying to end the cycle."

"Cycle of what?"

"Of lies. Of pain. Trying to put an end to it before his own child is born. I guess."

"Good for them," Malcolm approved. "You know, if Andre divorces Rhonda and marries Anika, she'll be your daughter."

"I'll never claim her," Cookie scoffed. "I don't care who she sleeps with, she's never be one of us."

"One of who?" Malcolm asked, confused.

"A Lyon! She can give me a hundred grandbabies, but she'll never be one of us."

"Why not?" Malcolm asked mildly. "Anika is a Lyon by law. And you haven't been married to Lucious in...what, 20 years? If anybody isn't a Lyon, Cookie, it's you."

Eyes wide and full of fury, Cookie's body language demanded that Malcolm take back such a hurtful statement. He didn't. "Whether you like it or not, Anika is the mother of your grandchild. You're going to have to treat her better than you do, Cookie. And seeing all the times you could've buried her and didn't, please don't pretend that you don't care about her, even before she was pregnant."

"What are you talking about?" Cookie demanded. "I ain't never lost sleep over no Boo Boo Kitty."

"Oh?" Malcolm was amused at Cookie's claim. "You didn't work with Anika to build Hakeem and Tiana's careers? You didn't have Anika by your side when you tried to take over Empire? You didn't bring her along when you built Lyon Dynasty?"

"That dumb ass girl went and pimped herself out to some con artist who beat the shit out of her!" Cookie countered. "That's why I fired her."

"Yes, you did. And when Mimi died, you all but threw a ticker tape parade, even though you said Anika got what she deserved."

"I never said anything like that!" Cookie said, horrified that Malcolm would tell such a lie.

"That's exactly what you said, Cookie. Maybe you didn't mean it when you said it, but-"

"I said that she deserved to get  _played!_ " Cookie screamed. "I  _never_  said that she deserved what Mimi did to her!" She shoved Malcolm in his chest, forgetting that she'd promised not to put her hands on him again. "Don't you ever say I said that! Don't you  _dare_  say she deserved..." 

Cookie couldn't finish, and she broke down crying in Malcolm's arms. It had taken Cookie too long to connect all the dots – far too long. By then, it was too late. "I'm sorry," she sobbed in Malcolm's arms, over and over and over again. "I'm so sorry..." She was apologizing to Anika, Malcolm knew, not just to him.

"Ssh. It's okay." Malcolm's voice was comforting, his touch reassuring. "It wasn't your fault any more than it was Anika's fault. Don't ever think for a second that you had anything to do with it."

"I told her to go sleep with Mimi for the money, but I didn't mean it, Malcolm. I swear to God that I never meant for her to go. I thought she knew that..."

"I'm sure she did," Malcolm reasoned. "Anika made her choice, and it was a bad one. She should've run it by you first."

"Yeah, 'cause I sure as hell would've told her to keep her ass away from Mimi Whiteman," Cookie said.  _"_ I never would've told her to go for real, and I would've whipped her ass if she even thought about going over there."

Malcolm's arms were strong around Cookie's waist as she cried against his shoulder. "You couldn't have seen that coming. Nobody could have. And it's okay to cry for Anika," Malcolm kissed Cookie on the temple. "You're not a monster, Cookie."

"Yes, I am," Cookie confessed tearfully. "I never treated that girl right, not from day one or any other day."

"That made you a bitch, Cookie, not a monster." Malcolm tilted Cookie's chin and wiped her tears away. "If you just talk to Anika, I'm sure she'll tell you that she forgives you." Malcolm took Cookie's face into his hands, touching her forehead with his. "You've atoned for it all ten times over, Cookie. Mimi is dead. You can't keep reliving this, Cookie, or it'll drive you crazy."

"You're right." Cookie took a breath and dried her tears. Crying for Anika was like giving in to what happened, as if Mimi breaking Anika once and for all made  _her_  the winner in the end. Cookie would never Mimi Whiteman the satisfaction, not even in Hell. "I...I better go talk to them."

An unreadable look crossed Malcolm's face. "Does it have to be tonight?" he asked. It wasn't like things could get any worse.

"Yeah. It does." Cookie fumbled through her purse for her phone, called a cab, and finished getting dressed. "You don't trust that I'm coming back, do you?" Cookie asked when Malcolm didn't say anything.

 _No_ , Malcolm thought. But did he really want to spend the rest of his life chasing after Cookie, who would always be chasing after Lucious? "Sure," he said, just a little too late for Cookie's taste.

Malcolm might have been a bad-ass SEAL, but men were still going to be men. While Malcolm sulked, Cookie swiped through her phone until she found the song she was looking for on YouTube. Malcolm smiled as Sam Cooke's "Please Don't Drive Me Away" began to play. "Gonna sing me a lullaby?" he teased.

"Maybe, if Daddy Longstroke puts me back to sleep." They both laughed as Malcolm pulled Cookie into his arms for a dance. Malcolm shocked Cookie as he sang along, his voice in perfect pitch with the legendary singer's voice. "I didn't know you could sing!" Cookie gasped.

"Didn't know a black-ass brotha like me could sing like a light-skinned dude, did you?" Malcolm twirled Cookie in a circle. "Don't worry, I still got my dark-skinned swag." He gracefully pulled Cookie back into his arms and dropped his voice down to a rich, velvety baritone.

_You send me_   
_Cookie, you, you, you, you send me_   
_I know that you, you, you, you send me_   
_Honest, you do_   
_Honest, you do._

Just when Cookie thought she knew everything about Malcolm, he surprised her. Impulsively, Cookie twisted the ring from her right ring finger and slipped in on Malcolm's pinky. "Your birthstone ring?" Malcolm asked, surprised. He knew how much it meant to her – a solid, five-carat sapphire surrounded by five diamonds, one for each of her three sons and her two sisters. Lucious had it made for Cookie on her 46th birthday. "Why would you give me this?"

Cookie wrapped her arms back around Malcolm's neck. "As long as you have it," she promised with a smile, "you know I'm coming back to you. My ring is always close to my heart, and right now, you have my heart."

"What if I pawn it?" Malcolm joked.

"Then the pawnbroker will have my heart." Cookie knew that Malcolm was just teasing her, but it hurt all the same.

Malcolm examined the ring. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry, but it looked silly on his hand. Hanging on to a woman's ring was a jealous, distrustful thing to do. It sounded like something Lucious would do. "Here." Malcolm took Cookie's hand and slid her ring back on her finger. "Why don't you let me give you something to remember me by instead."

Cookie squealed when Malcolm turned Cookie around and pushed her down onto the table, flat on her stomach, pulling that hideous purple dress up past her waist as he pushed her underwear to the side. "Malcolm, my cab-"

"Can wait," he whispered, cutting off with one smooth thrust inside of her.  _"You...send me,"_  Malcolm pulled back, then slowly, slowly, slowly slid back inside of her until Cookie clenched her jaw shut and began to whimper. "Honest, you do," Malcolm promised, and he kissed the tattoo on the back of Cookie's neck before he sent her all over again, and again, and again.

Nearly 20 minutes later, Cookie finally left Malcolm and apologized to her extremely irate cabbie. Thank goodness her destination was only 10 minutes away. The cabbie was still pissed at Cookie, but far less so when Cookie gave him a $100 tip on top of the fare. "If you don't mind my saying," the elderly driver said appreciatively as Cookie got out of the cab, "you look very much in love. Very radiant."

"Oh, thank you!" It was a far cry from what she'd felt just half an hour ago. "You have a good night."

Cookie could still smell Malcolm's cologne and his strong arms wrapped around her as he crooned Sam Cooke in her ear. Was that how Anika felt when she looked at Andre? What had joined them together all those months ago, and what had possessed Andre to claim her today, on all days? He'd just married Anika off to his father, only to claim her back. Cookie sighed heavily.  _Time to go find out, I guess._

What happened next was all so fast that Cookie didn't comprehend what happened at first. Cookie would later struggle to explain the sound of Rhonda's body as it hit the roof of a car - a cross between a splat, a crunch and a thud. In a trance, Cookie looked up to see where the body had fallen, to see an even more horrifying sight – a tiny patch of red fighting its way to the ledge. Only then did Cookie realize that the body that had fallen just a few feet from her was her daughter-in-law, back from Los Angeles and now nothing but a sack of bones and blood.

* * *

No one could fault Anika for protecting herself from Rhonda's sudden attack – a hard slap to the face, followed by a shove against the wall. It took a minute for Anika to realize that this wasn't just a continuation of what had happened in Lucious's office, but something far worse. Andre hadn't proven to be ride or die, so Rhonda was there to finish the job herself. Anika had every right to defend her like and the life of her baby.

"You wanted your devil child to be the only heir to the throne, didn't you?" Rhonda growled, and Anika knew that how matter how many times she told Rhonda the truth, Rhonda wasn't going to listen to her. This wasn't just an accusation anymore, or a silly theory. Rhonda believed with her whole heart that Anika had tried to her kill her child. Maybe...

_"_ _You damn right I did, you bitch!"_

For just a second, Rhonda was sane again, giving Anika enough time to drag herself up from the balcony. Before she could even open her mouth, she knew that Rhonda was about to come for her all over again. Anika had no other choice but to fight back. She would never be able to plead her case to Rhonda. Rhonda didn't want to listen.

Rhonda's body weight slammed Anika's belly straight into the ledge, and the worst pain of her life shot through Anika's body. Andre made it outside just in time to watch his wife's body plunge to the ground below. Andre had no time to react, however, because Anika was trying to get to her feet, screaming her best friend's name. "No! Anika!  _Stop!"_

Anika couldn't stop. Nobody was going to stop her this time. "I have to help her! I have to help Rhonda!"

"Anika, no! Stop!" Andre had failed Rhonda, his wife.  _Please, God, don't let me fail again_. "You promised that you would help me end the cycle!" Andre begged. "You, me and Leo – we can end all of this! Please! You don't have to do this!"

" _I didn't push her!"_  Anika made the mistake of looking down just then.  _"Rhonda!"_  Her friend...her best friend, now nothing but a body on the ground.  _I did this. I did this!_

"Anika." Lucious's voice was oddly calm compared to Andre's. "Don't do this to our family, Anika. Don't do this to  _your_  family. Anika, come down from there."

"I didn't push her. I didn't push her!  _I didn't!"_  They would take her away, she knew. The police would lock her up. Anika would never she her son again. Lucious would win. Men like Lucious always won. Why live for that?

The pain became too much for Anika to stand anymore. She fell to her knees and placed her head on the ground, which was hard to do with her belly. She couldn't stand anymore. She couldn't help Rhonda. She couldn't protect her baby. "Anika," Lucious called again, "you have to get up. We're going to get you out of this, baby girl. You'll get through this. You're a Lyon, Anika, so  _be a Lyon!"_

Lucious's voice was so soothing, so persuasive that Anika almost believed him. It was the same voice that he'd used when he convinced her to fly with him to D.C. to get married just two weeks ago. Anika shook her head. "You're lying," she said as she struggled to stand, but the pain made it impossible. "You always lie," Anika yelled from her knees. "That's all you do, Lucious. You  _lie!"_

"But  _I'm_  not lying!" Andre shouted. "You know I'm not lying! You...stop!  _Stop!"_ Both father and son had to struggle to keep Anika from trying to go over the edge. "I have to help Rhonda!" Anika cried again. "I have to go help her!"

"You can't help her, Anika."

Cookie nearly screamed at what she saw yet again – Anika dangerously close to a ledge, threatening to throw herself off. Once again, Cookie had to remain calm, especially as Andre and Lucious were manhandling her. "She's gone, Anika. You can't help her. Help yourself. All we can do is take care of you and your baby. You're not alone, remember?" Unlike yesterday, Cookie didn't dare to move forward. Don't you remember me telling you that the other day? That you'll never be alone? You're one of us now, and no matter what happened in the past, you are a Lyon, Anika."

"Oh, fuck the Lyons!" Anika shrieked in agony – half from the pain and half from the idea of being a Lyon. "You're going to take my baby! He thinks I pushed her!" Anika pointed to Lucious. "I didn't push her, Lucious! _I didn't push her!"_

"We know!" Andre said, grabbing her hand. He turned to Lucious and gave him a hard look. "You didn't push Rhonda and you didn't kill my baby. And I will never let anybody take your baby from you. Do you hear me, Anika? I'll die before I let anybody take our baby away..."

"Anika!" Cookie yelled. "Anika, listen to me. Believe me, baby, I wanted to kill myself so many times when I was in prison. I swear that this will get better." Cookie took a deep ragged breath. "There is nothing so bad that you have to die for this. And I swear to you-." Cookie burned holes into Lucious head with her eyes. "-that I will never let anybody take your baby away from you. I promise you, Anika. I will never let anybody take your baby away. Please don't do this...don't take another grandchild away from me..."

In the end, it was Cookie's pleas, not Lucious's honeyed words or Andre's promises, that brought Anika away from the ledge. And it was Cookie, not Andre or Lucious, who put her arms around Anika. "Cookie, Cookie," Anika bawled, and Cookie squeezed her almost-daughter-in-law tightly, not wanting to let her go. "Everything's gonna be okay," Cookie promised. "We're going to run you a hot bath so you can relax."

With Lucious and Andre's help, Cookie managed to get Anika back to the bridal suite, though every step was torture for Anika. "You two better go find Thirsty," Cookie recommended, carefully sitting Anika on the toilet. "Andre, you know the drill. Don't say anything, no matter what they say to you. Don't say  _anything_." Following Lucious and Andre out of the bathroom so Anika could undress – not that it really mattered, since Anika had slept with both of them - Cookie hugged her oldest son tightly. "It's going to be alright, baby. You didn't do anything wrong. Nobody did. Rhonda just..."

"...snapped. " Andre ran a hand through his hair, still disbelieving. "She told me to kill Anika, you know..."

"What!?" Lucious and Cookie asked at the same time.

"It's true. She wanted me to prove that I was ride or die. But I wouldn't do it, and I guess that's why Rhonda came here. She thought she had to...that she...I should've called a doctor then." Andre broke down then. "A doctor, the police...somebody. And now Anika is trying to kill herself...twice in two days..." Andre looked at his mother with tears in his eyes. "What's wrong with me, Mama? How come they both wanted to leave me?"

"C'mon, son." Lucious put an arm around Andre's shoulder. "Let's find your brothers and get this all over with." Lucious led Andre, who was still crying and muttering to himself, out of the suite. They should have been somewhere mourning Rhonda's life, not visiting with police and coroners, but the cycle ended when it was supposed to end. Right now, it didn't seem to be the time for it to end.

From the bathroom, Anika had heard most of the discussion, and she'd heard Andre break down into tears as she carefully lowered her body into the warm water. "Is Rhonda really gone, Cookie?" Anika asked helplessly, looking up at Cookie with tears in her eyes. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Cookie closed her eyes, but the picture of Rhonda's body made them pop open. She wondered if she would ever sleep again. "Yeah. She's gone." Cookie helped Anika out of her clothes and into the warm bath. "Try to relax," she instructed Anika. "I won't be long. I just want to find Jamal and Hakeem real quick."

Cookie's hand was on the doorknob when Anika made her confession. "I killed her, Cookie."

"What?"

"I killed Rhonda." Anika looked up at Cookie, her eyes as blank as they were back at Hakeem's wedding. "I didn't throw her off that ledge, and I didn't push her down those stairs. But I killed her all the same. The minute Andre and I kissed, it was over for Rhonda. Deep down, I think we both knew it."

"Like it was over for you when I showed up," Cookie added, sadly linking the events together. "It's all a part of the cycle, isn't it? But you and Andre and my little grandson...no matter what happens tonight, promise me you'll end this cycle of lies and misery and death."

Even in the midst of tragedy, Anika dredged up a tiny smile. "His name is Leo," Anika informed Cookie.

"Leo." It was a nice name, except... "Like Leo the Lion?"

Anika laughed dryly. "No, Leo after Andre's grandmother. Like Leah, just the boy version of it."

"Somebody say my name?" Leah came into the bathroom, and exchanged a wary glance with Cookie. For some reason, Leah absolutely hated Cookie, whereas she adored Anika. "How are you doing, baby?" Leah leaned over next to the bathtub and gave Anika's wet body a hug, then kissed her on her forehead without a backward glance to Cookie.

"I was telling Cookie that Andre and I decided to name our baby after you," Anika informed Leah. "Leo Walker Lyon."

"That's lovely." Leah gave Anika a loving smile. "My daddy's name was Leo. He named me after him. And now your baby will be named after him."

Anika adjusted her body in the bathtub. "What was your father like, Mama Leah?"

 _Mama Leah?_  Cookie called Leah Ms. Walker, and had a feeling that she would be whipped if she didn't. "I'll go get some ice to chill the wine," Cookie said aloud, but neither of them noticed her leaving. Anika had Leah now. She only needed Cookie for saving her life over and over. Cookie had promised herself that she would save Anika, but she hadn't been specific as to how many times she would do it.

Returning from the ice machine with ice and an orange Sunkist for Anika, Cookie nearly dropped everything at the sound of a bloodcurdling scream that went on and on.  _No. It can't be It can't..._  Anika wasn't due for another six weeks. "It's too soon, it can't be..."  _Please, God, please not now...not tonight..._

Another scream. As cycles ended when they were supposed to, they also began when they were supposed to. "Anika!" Cookie hurriedly made it back to the suite, set down the ice and Anika's drink, pushed the bathroom door open, then froze. The water in tub was fast becoming a frighening shade of red. "Cookie!" Leah yelled. "Cookie, help me get her out of this tub!"

Cookie moved forward to help Anika stand, and red rivers ran down her thighs as she stood. "Help me," Anika pleaded. "Please help..."

Cookie didn't remember getting Anika out of the bathtub, but she did somehow. "Get her to that hot tub on the other side of that door," Leah ordered. The women half-walked, half-dragged Anika around the corner. All the while, Anika left a crimson path on the floor that even a blind man could follow. "The warm water will help with the labor pains and-Cookie?  _Cookie!_  Are you listening to me?"

Cookie wasn't listening to Leah. All she heard was Anika's voice, which had ceased screaming and was mumbling prayers under her breath _._ Cookie willed her voice to soothe this young woman, to calm her down just had she had done in the past. Cookie's mind fired command after command.  _Step up! Give her your hand! Tell her it's going to be okay!_ But Cookie didn't - couldn't - make a sound come out of her mouth.

Cookie barely got Anika in the hot tub in time, nearly drowning her as she rolled off Cookie's shoulder. In seconds, the clear water turned cloudy with blood. "I'll be right back! Cookie, keep her body sitting up." Cookie's body moved on autopilot as she hooked Anika up by her armpits and held her head in place. Anika coughed and spat out water, then grabbed Cookie's dress so hard that it split from the back. "Help me," she mumbled. "Please don't leave me, Cookie."

Leah shouted Cookie's name again from the bathroom. "I have to...just for a minute..."

Anika let her go long enough for Cookie to meet Leah in the bathroom. In a flash, Leah slapped Cookie in the face, then grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her like a rag doll. _"Snap out of it!"_  she barked, grabbing clean towels and the empty ice bucket on the ground. "You think you're the only woman who ever lost a baby?"

Cookie gasped. Did one of her sons betray her and tell Leah her secret? - "How did you know I lost-"

"It's written all over your face, girl!" For just a moment, Leah seemed human. She pointed a finger in the face of her son's ex-wife. "Don't you dare go around that corner unless you can help her, Cookie. If you can't stand looking at what you see here, take your ass out this room and don't you come back."

Cookie looked around the bathroom, down at her dress, and into the eyes of a woman who actually loved Anika. Leah's lovely green dress was also soaked with blood and water, but her eyes were determined and her hands were steady. Cookie's, on the other hand, were trembling and pressed against her mouth. No cheeseburger was pushing through her throat, no chili or cheese made Cookie clamp her own mouth shut. Just three decades' worth of grief as Anika's tormented cries jammed through Cookie's brain like shards of glass.

She ran.

At the time when Anika needed her the most, Cookie fled from the bathroom, out the door and halfway down the hall before she ran straight into Hakeem and Jamal. "Ma, what's wrong?" Hakeem asked, staring at Cookie's dress, which was almost as red as it was purple. "What's going on?" The brothers' heads jerked in the direction of the screaming. "That not Anika, is it?" Jamal asked weakly, knowing full well that it was. "Please tell me it isn't..."

"Go help Anika!" Cookie stumbled past Hakeem and nearly fell, splitting her dress even more. "And call an ambulance!"

"Mom!" Cookie heard Jamal call her behind her, but she ignored him.  _"I said call an ambulance!"_  This wasn't the slums of west Philly. This was a prestigious neighborhood. They would come in time, wouldn't they? And what about Andre, the baby's father? Had Andre been picked up already? Had Lucious and Thirsty reached Andre in time? Andre was smart enough to know never to talk to the police without an attorney present, even one as shady as Thirsty Rawlings. But was his mind clear enough to handle the situation? Was hers?

"Cookie!  _Cookie!"_

Lucious was running towards Cookie. Cookie could breathe easily, at least on this issue. If Lucious was alone, that meant that Thirsty was with Andre, - wherever they were - and Lucious trusted them enough to handle the situation on his own. "Cookie! What's going on?"

"Anika!" Cookie answered breathlessly, trying to go back to the suite as fast as she could. "The baby-it's coming! We have to go help her!"

Despite Leah's warning, Cookie ran towards the suite again, only to have fate intervene. Cookie howled in pain as her ankle turned and sent her sprawling to the floor. Quickly Lucious scooped Cookie up over his shoulder and hastily made his way back to the suite. "Get your hands off me!" Cookie yelled, furious that she needed Lucious's help to get back to her family. "Put me down, Lucious!  _Put me down!"_

Lucious ignored Cookie's commands, even with Cookie twisting and fighting, beating Lucious against his back and head until they tumbled to the ground in the hallway, just a few yards away from their destination. "Let me go!" Cookie cried again, struggling to stand. "You said it yourself, didn't you? You told me you would never leave me for her! Go back to her, Lucious!  _Go back to your wife!"_

With Cookie still crawling back to the suite, there was nothing Lucious could do except pick Cookie up and carry her once again. Once again, Cookie fought Lucious until Lucious lost his footing and they fell to the ground again. At least they were actually inside the suite, right where Leah had admired her handsome grandsons a few hours ago. "Cookie," Lucious said sadly, knowing that there was no way Cookie could make it to the back of the suite - not on that ankle - and Lucious lacked the energy and strength to try to pick her up once again. "Cookie. Please."

Defeated, Cookie pulled her knees to her chest and dropped her head. Rocking back and forth on the ground, Cookie saw so much behind her eyelids that she opened her eyes yet again. The look in Lucious's eyes when she left him. The stoic expression on Anika's face as the Lyons plotted her fate. Rhonda's body as it plummeted through space, and that tiny patch of red fighting to join her. And the blood. All that blood. Blood in the bathtub. Blood on the floor. Blood like rivers flowing down Anika's thighs, just like Cookie's so long ago. She could no more save Anika's child than she could saved have her own.

With nothing left in her body except sorrow, Cookie threw her head back and let out a long, piercing scream that plunged into Lucious's heart like a dagger. When Lucious took Cookie into his arms, she didn't fight back this time. "I want my baby, Lucious," Cookie choked out, her head in Lucious lap as he stroked her head. "I want my baby."

In over 30 years, neither Lucious nor Cookie ever discussed that horrible December day, not once. Leah Leslie Lyon simply ceased to exist, never to be spoken of again, not even to each other. "I know you do, baby," Lucious said softly, and Cookie could hear the pain in his voice. Because Lucious  _did_  know and he  _was_  sorry, Cookie didn't want to be around anybody else right now except Lucious. Not her sons, not her sisters, and definitely not Malcolm. The only person in the world who could understand what Cookie was feeling was Lucious, crying with her as they acknowledged their daughter for the first time in their lives. It would be different later on, she knew, but right now the only Cookie she wanted in her life was her ride-or-die.

TBC


	4. Maybe Your Baby (Done Made Some Other Plans)

hold for rewite

 


	5. All In

hold for rewrite

 


End file.
